Upon arrival to the Ramstein Area Motivational Program (RAMP) candidates are grilled by staff members before even entering the building and made to do push-ups. Airmen sent to RAMP lose their official rank titles and are referred to as "candidates" until they successfully complete the program. (Raymond T. Conway / S&S)
KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany — The Air Force is shutting down a mini boot camp-style program at Ramstein Air Base designed to help bad-behaving airmen in Europe “get back on their feet.”
The Air Force is dropping the program, the Ramstein Area Motivational Program, or RAMP, after three years. The Air Force revealed the closure in a release posted on the service’s Web site.
But the Air Force article failed to mention why the program is going away or when exactly it would close its doors.
A spokeswoman for the 435th Air Base Wing could not provide an explanation by deadline. A separate Air Force article, however, indicated that the program is going away because of the service’s plan to trim tens of thousands of airmen from the ranks.
The Air Force calls the personnel cuts “force shaping.”
“It is not needed because someone else at (Military Entrance Processing Station) is ready to take your place,” Master Sgt. Thomas Hartswick, the 52nd Fighter Wing career adviser and Professional Enhancement Center superintendent, said in an article posted on Spangdahlem Air Base’s Web site. “This kind of correctional custody is not needed anymore. You can get force shaped out, so it’s important that airmen understand they live with the consequences of their actions and their world.”
Ramstein’s program is a modified version of the Air Force’s correctional custody program, which largely served as a tool to punish airmen who committed minor infractions. The Ramstein program was established in 2004 with the aim of “rehabilitating” trouble-making airmen in 30 days or less.
Many of the airmen arrive at the program on the verge of getting booted out of the military.
Two years ago, the program’s success served as a model for other bases interested in starting the program. More than 200 airmen have gone through RAMP, according to the Air Force.
